Barbie Dolls
by ieatwithchopsticks
Summary: Sasori Akasuna just came back from prison after crashing his car into a girl while intoxicated. Arini Naruhana was just released from hospitalization after being the victim of an unfortunate car crash. Two fates are intertwined, and their worlds collide.
1. One: The Story Begins

_At Ame High School, there is a government. School rules never apply, and the principal is only there as a symbol. In a dictatorship not everyone is happy about, the notorious gang Akatsuki reigns. Their only rule? OBEY._

* * *

"He really _is_ back…"

"Can you believe it?"

"I heard he got himself arrested…"

"Really? No way, for what?"

"He was doing drugs or something, dogs were all over him…"

"Arson was what I heard…"

"I bet he killed someone…"

"Wouldn't that get you a life sentence?"

Ame High School. A place of untold violence, lusty secrets…and then, there was shit like _this_. Fucking ridiculous, really. Sasori took long, smooth strides as he carefully worked his way through the hallways. Gossip, gossip, and more gossip. Couldn't these people work on their own lives instead of talking about the ones that other people had?

He turned, bristling inside. His back invited more whispered rumors to be shared, but he heard them all. Every single last one of them. Did they think he was deaf? He headed towards a flight of stairs that led to a dark corridor and began climbing them.

As he reached the end the staircase, he moved to face a second set of stairs and began making his way higher up still. He welcomed the silence that now engulfed him as he traveled the passageway that was pleasantly devoid of nosy busybodies. Very few, very privileged people were the only ones allowed to walk up these stairs, after all.

As he came face to face with a door, Sasori threw it open--and was immediately greeted by light. The light of the outside. Heads turned for their gazes to linger on him as he made his way through the door and plopped himself down onto the ground where he usually sat--a spot that had been vacant for many months now.

There were a few seconds of silence that followed Sasori's entrance, but a head--the one head that did not turn as he threw open the door--slowly turned to him and broke the stillness. "Welcome back, Sasori," Pein said. Coolly, calmly.

The redhead turned squarely to meet Pein's eye, and he nodded briefly to acknowledge the greeting. And all of the remaining gathered people, save for one particular girl, broke out into a quiet buzz of chatter.

Today was a devstatingly humid day--the kind of day where the sunlight seemed to burn your skin after sitting outside for only a few minutes, and the kind of day picnic-goers did not want to be caught in, despite the bright sunshine. But still, this pompous group of people had taken the time to gather on the roof like they did every day, to discuss have-dones, going-ons, and will-comes.

Who were they, exactly?

The Akatsuki. Ten people in all, each as intimidating as the next. A black tie patterned with crimson clouds was their signature.

Pein--more often referred to as "Leader"-- was accordingly the leader of this prominent group. Teachers? To hell with them, he did what he pleased and they didn't dare speak out.

Konan was the second-in-power, if they had ranks to begin with. She was strong and independent and the only female member of the Akatsuki. Oh, and she also happened to be Pein's girlfriend. Mess with her and you're screwed.

Hidan? Everyone knew him. Loud-mouthed, crude, swore every word your mother told you to never use when you were a little toddler. One day, he decided he'd have his own god and religion, and he still had them now. Mind you, it was a sadistic religion.

There was Kakuzu, too--infamous for his sleazy money businesses. Yeah, he grew and sold, but no one actually ever saw him smoking a joint himself. And he did odd jobs. Nothing like mowing the lawn or babysitting his next-door neighbor's cat, that is. More like beating up people that other people didn't like--for a nifty sum.

Itachi--no one ever knew what Itachi was thinking. He kept his thoughts to himself, and dear me, how the girls would _fawn_ over him…

Kisame was the uncanny one of the group. His skin from head to toe was colored a bright blue. Of course, it had been done by those tattoo guys, but drawings fish gills on his face everyday didn't help that fact spread.

Zetsu was like Kisame--eccentric, eerie. One half of his body was a charred black, and the other half bleached a ghostly white. His hair was like an olive mop that sat on his head, and he talked to no one.

Deidara was one of the more popular folks of the gang--he was more social than the others and talked more. Seemed normal enough--until you got to know his love for bombs. He would be a future terrorist one day, everyone knew.

Tobi was the newest member of the Akatsuki. Carefree and naïve, he seemed to be possibly the most unlikely candidate to join the Akatsuki. But he was there, and he had to have a reason.

Then there was Sasori--small and childlike, but also very quiet. He kept to himself, but could often be seen ripping off parts of Barbies or Gundam models and putting them back together. But that had been a sight that hadn't been seen in a while, because he'd been gone. Gone where? No one could say.

"Konan?" Pein cut through the murmurs and mutters as he addressed the girl off to his left. She had kept from the prattling the entire time as she peered over the railing that fenced the roof, but now she looked up. Slowly, almost blankly. But she obviously knew what was coming up, because she immediately reached for her shirt pocket, tugging out something folded into a small square. She unfolded it, smoothing it out carefully before handing it to Pein.

In turn, Pein glanced at it briefly before holding it up for Sasori to see. "Is this you?"

The many members of Akatsuki strained their necks to see the slip of paper--which, would you know it, turned out to be a newspaper clipping. Across the top, the dark bold letters screamed the heading: **INTOXICATED DRIVER CRASHES CAR INTO SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD-GIRL**.

The article underneath was short and sweet. No names were mentioned, no pictures. Only a description of the car crash itself, where it had been, and the aftermath. The story couldn't have even taken up a fourth of a page and had probably been positioned far off the to side somewhere. But the last sentence would surely strike someone's attention: _Shortly after apprehension, the driver was taken to trial and sentenced to six months in prison_.

The date of the article? March 14th. And today happened to be September 16th.

Sasori's eyes briefly skimmed the story over, and the only reaction he managed was a nonchalant shrug. "…Yeah. That was me." Because yes, it was true. He really had been gone for six months. But saying it out loud--six months--it seemed like so much time had passed by.

"Sasori." Konan's voice was soft, but it had a trace of something that compelled the redhead to look at her. "The girl. Did she press the charges?"

Holding her stare through his sleepy eyes, he answered. "No." But oh, she had. She had completely screwed him during the trial, in every single way possible. Only, it wasn't her. It was her father, and that lawyer of theirs. He never actually got the chance to see her; she had been in the hospital the entire time the trial was going on.

But his words were a lie that wasn't actually a lie. They were his response to Konan's real question, the question everyone knew she was asking, because they all knew that of course she had pressed the charges. Who wouldn't? And her question was simple: _Do you want to give her hell?_

But no, no he didn't. Because he was just sick of it all and wanted to get all this bullshit over with. He had served the sentence. Now he had nothing more to do with The Mistake, as he now called the crash. Sasori was usually a composed person, cool and collected. Drinking wasn't in his nature.

So Konan turned back to the railing now, watching whatever she was watching down below. And another silence now followed as the seconds dribbled by.

Finally, Deidara slapped Sasori on the back, grinning. It was a somewhat forced grin, Sasori saw. "Good to have you back, Sasori-danna, yeah!"

With that cue, similar greetings were mumbled to Sasori from the rest of the members. Some reluctantly, some apathetically. Didn't matter, Sasori ignored them all anyways. He tilted back his head to look at the sky. The blue, blue sky.

A neverending blue canvas.

* * *

She switched schools for the rest of the semester. Family issues, she was supposed to say when asked why.

Hugging her knees to her chest, Arini Naruhana retracted her gaze from the sky. That was a lie. It sounded so wrong when she had to say it. But when she had to, she did. Because the truth was she hadn't been at any school at all for the past few months. In fact, just two days ago, she had still been in the hospital, waiting while her father signed the release papers.

The hospital. White walls, the air of death. Sitting around there, waiting. She had missed the rest of her sophmore year like that. She should've been demoted, actually. Should've had to fail a grade to catch up. But no, her father wouldn't let that happen. He pushed the school, bribed them with money, did everything he could to make sure it didn't. And so, when summer ended, and after a few extra days for good measure, she finally came back to start her junior year two days ago.

And she found things had changed. Her friends didn't know how to talk to her anymore, because too many things had happened that she didn't know about. And so, she was alone.

Today, Arini found she didn't have enough willpower to put up with things that went on in Ame, and the people there. The rumors spread rapidly like wildfire, and they were talking about the same thing over and over again: some Akatsuki member had gotten himself arrested, and now he was back. (If only they knew what had happened to _her_.) It was repetitive, and she couldn't stand it. So she had skipped a class or two and hung out around the campus.

She peered out through the cracks of the trees to the sun instead. The sky was too clear, too unblemished for her to look at today. Too…perfect.

She craned her neck slightly, and a sudden flash of sunlight waved at her through the leaves.

_Ba-dump_.

Lights.

_Ba-dump_.

Heart pumping, head pounding, vision spinning.

_Ba-dump_.

The contact, the collision.

_Ba-dump_.

It was too much for her to bear, the pain searing through her arm.

_Ba-dump_.

The ghostly tails of the lights glared at her before everything went dark.

_Ba-dump_.

And suddenly Arini was back again. She realized she was clutching desperately at her head now, whimpering, even. Angry at herself, she straightened her back and stared defiantly at the sun. This was the dream she kept dreaming every night, reliving every moment over and over again. She remembered constantly, at every turn she made.

_It's not fair_.

Arini mouthed the words silently to herself.

_I just want to forget_.

* * *

"Hey, wanna take the rest of the day off?" Deidara elbowed Sasori as the bell rang. Swarms of students pushed past them as they filed out of the classroom, blathering excitedly.

Sasori rose from his seat and mulled over the thought quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Sure. What do you have in mind?"

"Head over to Kakuzu's, yeah. He's skipping too, he's got some new stuff I wanna try." A boyish smirk slithered onto Deidara's face. "I'd head over to Ino's, but you've just come back and I get to see her everyday, so why not?"

Sasori gave a small, uninterested nod. He didn't really care for the drugs that Deidara swore he wasn't addicted to, but it wasn't like he gave much of a damn for school, either; it was making his head spin.

"So, danna. How was prison?" Deidara grinned as they headed out the door.

"How're things with Ino?"

"Huh? Oh, great, great." Deidara backtracked quickly. Whenever Sasori changed the subject, it meant that he had come across a topic he did not and will not talk about. Anyone who pushed him into it were going to piss him off. And a pissed-off Sasori was brutal. "She's really needy though, y'know?" he chuckled. "Yeah, you know how chicks are."

"Uh-huh." Ino was Deidara's latest fling. Sasori personally didn't like her, but since when did he ever like any of Deidara's girlfriends? "Oh…right." He'd nearly forgotten. "Can we make a stop at Sakura's first?"

Deidara glanced over at him. "…Sure, yeah."

"Great, thanks." Officially, Sakura and him were going out. He had met her at a party throwing her guts out. She couldn't handle alcohol at all, as it turned out. But truth be told, he didn't particularly have any special feelings for her. She had just clung to him, and who was he to shake her off? Still, he thought it'd be best to let her know he was still alive. She probably didn't even know he had been in jail. And her parents usually worked till late at night, it shouldn't be hard to fit a visit in.

"Shit_fuck_!"

Startled, Sasori turned to Deidara, who was now sprawled out on the floor. Next to him, a long-haired girl was in a similar position. Books were spread out all around the two of them, and Deidara most definitely did not look happy. Glowering as he pulled himself up, he glared at the girl. "Where the _fuck_ are you staring, bitch?" he demanded. "What, do I look invisible to you?"

In front of him, the girl stared at him stupidly. Her expression was blank, as if she couldn't comprehend what had just happened. _She's in for it_, Sasori thought, glancing away.

"You can't see me, is that it?"

Sasori's eyes sidled back to the scene Deidara was making again. People were starting to gather, and the girl…suddenly, a glimmer leaped to her eyes. She twitched, looking scared.

"Well in that case, I'm going to assume you sure as hell can't see this!" His fist connected with her face evenly. As he pulled back, blood spurted from her nose. "Teach you to watch yourself next time, you little fucker," he spat. Obviously, Deidara wasn't in a good mood. Swiveling on his heel, he walked away from the girl, who was still on the ground.

Dazed. Lost, confused, scared. Always being the closest thing the Akatsuki had to a psychic, Sasori read the emotions on her face clearly as he allowed his gaze to linger. He smirked. Well, she had it coming. He trailed silently after Deidara.

* * *

Arini felt the blood trickling down her nose, and her cheeks flushed as she imagined the way she must've looked to everyone right now. As she eyed each spectator, they looked away, whispering of sorts in each other's ears. Then she looked down to the ground again, feeling completely humiliated. What could she say? She hadn't been paying attention. She was distracted, absorbed in her own thoughts. When she had bumped into that blonde Akatsuki member, she hadn't even realized it was someone from Akatsuki. Or that he'd made such a big deal out of things.

She had just thought maybe he'd complain a little and walk away. But when he didn't, and kept on talking, she had torn herself from her thoughts and forced herself to look up. And she saw the tie. Fear had flooded her body, and she had felt herself tremble.

And then there was that redhead who had been beside him. Also from Akatsuki, she saw from the tie. But she couldn't remember his name. He had been staring at her when the blonde had walked away; she saw him through the corner of her eye. Then he had smirked at her with that sleepy, arrogant expression that he wore so naturally.

She couldn't help but feel even more mortified as he turned to follow the blonde. Her face hot with shame, Arini silently collected her books before heading to the nurse's office. Well, at least she had an excuse to skip class this time.

* * *

"You okay?" Sasori asked as they strolled down the parking lot.

"Me? Yeah, yeah I'm okay…but girls like that just piss me off, you know? So stupid that they don't even see where they're heading, then when you ask them a question, they think they're too good to answer," Deidara grumbled. "Anyways, come on." They approached a yellow Porsche, and he unlocked the doors with a few swift motions.

"Aside from that, I mean," Sasori elaborated, pulling open the door and sliding inside. "You seem tense today."

"Really, yeah?" Deidara slid into the driver's seat beside him and shut the door with a _THUD!_ "Tobi's been getting on my nerves and all. He's so fucking stupid, I don't even get why he's in Akatsuki."

"Hm." Sasori didn't notice Tobi much. He kept his distance from him, mostly because he didn't particularly favor overly friendly people. "Just ignore him."

"Ha." Deidara snorted, starting up the engine. "Sasori-danna, that's probably something that's easy for you to do, yeah, but you know me. Someone pisses me off, I run my mouth."

"Like the girl."

"Like the girl," Deidara echoed, nodding.

Sasori smiled faintly. "You can actually sound threatening now."

"Yeah, well, watching Hidan a couple of times sure doesn't hurt." A mischievous smile curved Deidara's mouth as he turned the wheel and made several sharp turns out of the parking lot. "So, does Sakura know?"

"What?"

"I mean, does she know where you've been?"

"Oh. No, she probably doesn't. But she can be smart sometimes, she might've figured it out."

"Smart. Really." Deidara laughed. "No offense, danna, but she's a total airhead. Thinking would probably kill her."

That wasn't completely true. She was smart sometimes. Sasori could remember a couple of times he could use to prove that, but he didn't feel like defending her, so he didn't. "Yeah, something like that."

And then they fell silent like that until the moment the yellow Porsche pulled up into the familiar driveway Sasori knew so well. "Welp, here's your stop, yeah. Make it fast, I'm getting jittery."

Glimpsing at the blonde for a moment, Sasori found he couldn't argue with Deidara. He _was_ getting jittery. So he slipped out of the car and headed to the front door.

_Knock, knock_.

And he waited, but there was nothing. He tried again.

_Knock, knock_.

Nothing still. She probably wasn't home. Oh well…just to be sure, he tried the knob. The fact that he easily turned the knob a full circle and the way the door succumbed to his force by creaking open surprised him momentarily. Then without further hesitation, he stepped inside.

It was silent, very silent. He spun on his heel, ready to leave. But suddenly, he heard noises. They were faint, probably in some room nearby. They were coming from a television of some sort.

Should he?

He advanced steadily, ascending the stairs and following the sounds from the television. The sound of his footsteps echoed clearly in the empty hallways. And then, he found himself staring at the door of Sakura's bedroom.

So she had been home--watching the T.V., turning it up so loudly that she probably hadn't even heard someone knocking outside. That sounded like Sakura. He swung the door open.

Sakura.

Yes, there was the pink-haired girl sitting on her bed alright…but she wasn't alone.

Glancing to the dark figure next to her, he saw there there was another person in the room. On the bed with her, his mouth pressed hungrily on top of hers, and--…oh. Well, as luck would have it, those noises weren't coming from a television after all. The one in the room was turned off. No, it had been the moans of pleasure from Sakura herself. His gaze trailed down slowly…and yes, Sakura most certainly didn't disappoint.

Articles of clothing pooling at their bodies, too hot to wear with the friction between their two bodies, and so they had been discarded. His eyes traveled up to Sakura again, and he saw her clearly again. Faint rose-pink blushes tinted the pigment of her skin around her neck, the parts of her he had seen some while back exposed again now for him to see, though not really for him. In fact, she and that dark-haired guy seemed so wrapped up in their lust that they hardly seemed to notice him. Until he crossed the room without warning, examining Sakura's desk throroughly as he gathered up various CDs.

"Ohmigod." The moans stopped abruptly, and Sasori felt the room fall absolutely silent. "S-Sasori?"

"Continue." His voice was quiet and unruffled. "I'm just getting my things."

"Sasori." Sakura's voice, in turn, was shocked. "Sasori, what are you doing here…?"

Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot…and where _was_ System of a Down? He picked up the CDs slowly. And behind him, he could feel something in the atmosphere changing, changing to something desperate.

"Sasori, no." She trembled. "Sasori, Sasori, Sasori." She chanted his name over and over again like a spell. "No, Sasori…"

He didn't say a thing. Oh yes, and then there was the letterman jacket he had let her wear after hours of her complaining how cold it was on one date, but she had never given it back. Where was it? He glanced around, his eyes falling on a chair. There it was…

The guy grunted and fell back on the bed. As if he was used to this kind of scene. But Sakura was frenzied. Begging, pleading. "I'm so sorry, Sasori…you, you never called…I couldn't find you! No one knew where you were, your grandmother wouldn't tell me anything…"

That was a lie. His grandmother loved to prove she was right. She would've gladly told anyone who was looking for answers what had happened to her delinquent grandson.

"Oh, Sasori, Sasori! Please…" Big tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. "Sasori, please. I'm so, so, so sorry…"

Having gotten all his things together, he finally looked at her. His expression wasn't angry or masked with attempted control. It just seemed lethargic, uninterested. "Do you really think you're the first one? Don't kid yourself into being special." Then, looking down at the CDs, he glanced up again. "I couldn't find the MCR album though. Where did you put it?"

Stifling a sob, she pointed a shaky finger to a wooden drawer in the room. He followed the direction she was pointing to. On the very top of the drawers, under a lamp. He added that, too, to the stack he now held. Then wordlessly, he exited the room.

Behind him, he could hear the hysterical sobs sounding somewhat muffled. "Sasuke, oh Sasuke…" And those sobs at the end were what actually irked him. They sounded torn, but the redhead could very clearly detect the melodrama in her blubbering.

Returning to the Porsche, he dropped his belongings, all of which now exuded a heavy perfume, into the space around his seat. The he pulled the door shut.

"Again?" Beside him, Deidara chuckled. "You don't give them enough attention, Sasori-danna. They're very demanding, yeah." He started up the engine again. "Don't call them, they think you're mad. Talk to another person at a party, they think you forgot they were there. And so on." They drove away.

"Deidara, my only real problem is how I can get rid of this smell." Sasori held up his letterman jacket in disgust as the lavender aroma came wafting his way.

"Oh, let me guess." Deidara smirked. "'Sasori, I feel like we're never even really going out!' Something like that?" He batted his eyelashes for good measure.

"Nope." He sorted out his CDs to make sure they were all there. Well, he guessed what had happened was that maybe she really had been genuinely worried at first. Then, when he never called, she dropped him entirely and started having some fun with other guys. She always had been awfully flirtatious at parties.

Oh well. One more rock in his life pushed off the cliff.

* * *

Another day, another morning, more agonizing hours she had to endure.

Blink. Breathe. Wait. Step out. Walk onwards.

That was what Arini told herself as the sleek black limousine pulled into the school campus. She saw the usual glances, the usual scoffs ("Rich kids, they have everything!" they'd say) out of the corner of her eye, and waited motionlessly as the car slowed. She heard footsteps approaching, and the door clicked open. She stepped out without looking at the driver, onwards into the sea of students.

The moment the limousine sped away, a voice called out to her: "Arini, hey!" She glanced up and saw a brown-haired girl waving to her, a forced smile on her lips. Arini didn't bother to smile herself, but felt her footsteps moving to walk over to the girl. There were other girls behind her too, tittering to themselves.

"'Morning, Arini!" the brown-haired girl chirped cheerfully.

"'Morning, Natsu," Arini mumbled quietly, careful to keep her gaze lowered to the ground.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something," Natsu said, all smiles. "Why don't you join the swim team again?"

Jolting suddenly at the suggestion, Arini whipped her head to meet the brunette's gaze. But Natsu continued talking, barely noticing. "I mean, you were one of the best on the team. We could definitely use a girl like you--"

"No thank you." Arini's response was clipped, polite. Stopping abruptly at the sound of her voice, Natsu stared at her. Then her eyes, very slightly, narrowed. "I see." And then she turned back to her friends, speaking in an excessively loud voice as she babbled on about certain happenings. Happenings that Arini knew nothing about, happenings that Arini knew she would be excluded from. And that was the cue for her to leave, she knew, because the talk of social events was a way of shunning her. So she swiveled on her heel and left.

_Too good to hang around them_. That was what Natsu thought, probably. That was the rumor that had been going around about her, anyways. The reason why she left was because she had been too good to hang around commoners, so she had transferred. Though the story had been drastically ruined in many ways when she came back, Arini knew there were other people who still believed it. Natsu was one of them. When she had turned down the invitation the way she did, she had probably only confirmed the story to Natsu, but no. No, that was never--never would be--the reason.

She glumly stared down, clutching at her bags tightly. No, she wasn't in the mood for first period today…perhaps she would skip again. Lugging her things at her side, she swiftly circled her way around the campus until she found a bench. She had actually just been looking for something like a stump, but this was nice, too. Dropping her belongings onto the ground, she collapsed onto the wooden bench and stretched.

Today was nicer than yesterday, she decided. She could feel the warmth of the golden sunlight bathing her skin, and it wasn't as hot as it was yesterday. She tilted her head to look at the sky, but the sun's intimidating glare immediately caught her eye, and her hand flew up to shield her face. Gazing upwards through the cracks of her fingers, she suddenly remembered the dream she had had again. One hundred fifty-three nights now. When would this stop?

She sighed, sitting up. Her head was starting to feel dizzy again. She wished she had a bottle of Tylenol with her, she'd feel so much better now if she did. She stayed unmoving for a few moments more. Then she felt her body relax, slumping down onto the bench. _"Why don't you join the swim team again?"_ The question echoed in her head for the umpeenth time since she had walked away from Natsu, the tone of Natsu's voice becoming more jeering each time she heard it. Moving her lips to silently repeat the question to herself, Arini felt her skin prickle uncomfortably. Well, why couldn't she?

"I wonder," she said aloud. A waterfall of dark locks cascaded down her shoulders as she thrusted her nose up into the air again. Oh yes, she remembered swimming--back such a long time ago. She remembered the crowds that cheered her on during competitions, the lights, the lovely feeling of water as she swam. The feeling of freedom, like she was floating, like...like she was _flying_.

Water lapping against her arms as she moved in even strokes...

Slowly, she rose.

Encircling her, engulfing her, promising her wings...

_Step, step, step_.

The water bending to her will, rearranging to wrap around her wherever she moved...

She walked onwards.

She was the authority, she had the control. Wherever she went, the water had no choice but to obey...

The sound of her own heart beating softly filled her ears.

Unlike her own life, where she was never the control, where she was never the power, where she was the submissive one, forced to obey...

A surge of fury crept its way into her chest, and it quickly snapped Arini from her trance. She blinked, taking in her surroundings. The place where her own two feet had taken her subconsciously.

Ame High's swimming pool.

A flood of emotions filled her all at once, sweeping away her attempt at apathy for so many weeks now. There was the smell of chemicals, so sweet, the water gently rippling as a light breeze danced by, the blue, blue color that the water seemed to be because of the color of the bottom of the swimming pool...baby blue, so inviting, the sun blazing brightly, ushering her in...

But no, she could never.

Not anymore.

Instead, she sat down comfortably at the edge of the swimming pool and peered in to see her reflection. A familiar girl stared back at her. She knew that nose, that mouth, that chin--and then her chestnut-colored hair and heart-shaped face. It was all so familiar, even though she no longer quite felt like herself. She recognized herself perfectly--...

But no. No, never mind. Not the eyes. The eyes of someone who looked broken. Her eyes never used to look like that. Arini smiled widely, trying to look cheerful.

The girl in the water smiled too, but her sad eyes never left her face.

_It's cold_, Arini thought suddenly, shivering.

The sun shone down on her back.

* * *

The boy in front of Deidara snapped his head back and forth quickly, his eyes darting rapidly to catch any possible signs of human movement. His eyes were large like saucers, untrusting.

Deidara clenched his teeth irritably. This dickhead was new at this. He would've gladly taken his old hookup any day, but unfortunately, it had been ratted out on and it was gone now. He held out his hand, twitching impatiently. "Hurry up!" he hissed.

Eyes dropping down to the crumpled bills the blonde had handed him, the greasy-haired boy slowly counted out the money. Then he reached into his pocket and came up with a small carefully wrapped package, which he dropped into Deidara's outstretched hand. Deidara snapped up the package quickly, stuffing it in his pocket. "Took you long enough," he snarled.

"You never know," the kid shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. As if the time he had taken handing over the shit was necessary. Deidara felt like punching him, but he needed him, so he held back.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered instead, waving a hand in dismissal. The kid, as if suddenly realizing who he had been talking to, jumped slightly and scurried away. Deidara's arm trembled with eagerness to tear through the package right away, but he refrained firmly. No, it'd be bad if he was caught. Really bad. Personally, he'd rather not have his ass kicked behind bars like his danna. Still, the temptation was burning him from the inside out. He stumbled, trying to tear his attention away from his want--his need--and focused on the swimming pool a few yards away from him. (Yeah, somehow all the dealings happened in washrooms, the band room, or behind the swimming pool.) He was suddenly vaguely aware of a dark figure moving slowly on one side of the pool, and snapped on guard immediately. So the careful lookout the stupid kid had been on was fucking pointless after all. There _had_ been someone nearby, and he hadn't even seen them. He crept closer to the pool, trying to make out whoever it was.

Long dark brown hair. That was the first thing he saw. So it was a girl. Well, hell. Just his luck, he had been hoping to stir some shit up--...then she turned slightly to look at something in the water, and he saw her clearly.

It was that dumbass girl from yesterday. _Well_. Since things had turned out this way, why the hell not? She looked just as out of it as she did the other day, so maybe a good scare wouldn't hurt. Besides, it was her own screwed up luck she had happened to be here. He inched closer to the edge of the pool, some nasty remark ready at the tip of his tongue. But then, as he turned slightly to have a better angle--…

...well, hell.

He hadn't exactly planned to push her in the pool, but…well, he didn't even really push her. His bag did. His bag. How did he forget his bag? He didn't think about his bag, the heavy black strap slung casually over his right shoulder.

But whether it was the bag's fault or his, the fact remained that she still went pummeling into the water. Shit.

He drummed his fingers on the floor as he waited for her to come bobbing up. He could laugh at her then; oh, the sight would be so pathetic, her utterly drenched from head to toe…

A minute passed by. Two. By the third minute, he realized that she wasn't coming up. Leaning over the edge, he peered in. He saw wisps of brown hair in the rippling water, and then it hit him. She was _drowning_. …Fuck.

…Well, she probably wasn't going to die from this, right? Someone would see her and pull her out. Eventually. Shrugging, Deidara walked off.

What? _He _sure as hell wasn't going to be found anywhere near her when she was found. What did he look like, an idiot?

* * *

Arini couldn't breathe. She was losing air, fast. What had happened, exactly? She had no clue.

All she knew was that some enormous force had hit her back and pushed her into the water. And now she was sinking, sinking like a rock in water. She had instinctively tried moving her arms at first, to try to swim her way back to the surface. But the disobedience of her body had reminded her, and she cried out in frustration. But the only thing that had done for her was force her to swallow more water than she already had when she first fell in the pool, and now the lack of air was making her body go limp. Her arms fell back.

_Do I want to die?_

Arini wondered this absentmindedly as she hovered in the water near the pool's floor.

_Maybe...maybe I do..._

Her eyes closed drowsily, and she felt herself grow cold. Yes, dying wouldn't be so bad. It'd be nice, actually. And this water that surrounded her, enveloping her, cradling her and telling her everything was alright, it was...

Realization hit her, and a sudden will to survive jolted through her veins. This was the water that had once obeyed her loyally without question, and now it was raging, working against her. She was drowning in it. No, she couldn't let that happen. Not here. She would never die in water. Never. The piece of knowledge she had been racking her brain for earlier suddenly presented itself to her, and she opened her eyes defiantly.

Her movement was weak, but she could do it. She darted towards the surface clumsily, waving around only her right arm while her left arm remained limp by her side. Her legs kicked furiously, guiding her toward the bright sunlight shining through the water that was growing closer and closer. _Just a little more_, she told herself, scolding herself, angry at herself for being exhausted by what were considered the most basic warmups. She pushed herself relentlessly, and then her head tore through the water.

She was out.

Gasping for air, water spewed from her lips as she climbed out of the pool. She was coughing violently, keeling over for breath. Oh, she was out, and the warm sunshine felt so good...

After hacking and wheezing for several minutes, Arini finally felt her lungs functioning properly again. She sat down on the floor, combing her fingers through her wet dripping hair and flipping it back out of her eyes. As her hand unconsciously brushed over her cheek on its way down to return to her side, Arini felt something sticky on her fingers. Blinking water droplets from her eyelashes, she pulled her hand up to her face for examnation, and found a paste of some sort roughly the color of her skin on her fingertips. Dread swelled in her stomach as she recognized the sticky substance, and she shot up, scrambling back to the bench where she had left her things.

She would have to reapply her makeup.

* * *

To hell with first period.

That was what Sasori had thought when he decided to skip first period, lounging around lazily in an empty classroom instead as he took apart a Gundam model. He had seated himself comfortably next to a window and was putting the model back together, when he caught sudden movements in the corner of his eye. The redhead glanced out the window, and he saw Deidara immediately. The blonde was inching closer and closer to a pool a few yards away from him in a particularly suspicious way. Sasori quickly took in the situation. There, sitting on the edge of one side of the pool, was a girl. She was absorbed with something in the water, so she didn't seem to notice Deidara. She seemed familiar to Sasori in some way, though he didn't know why. And then Deidara whirled around suddenly, and the bag at his side toppled her over the edge of the pool. She disappeared into the water in an instant. First, Deidara looked surprised. Then he looked mildly aggravated with himself.

Sasori clucked his tongue in annoyance. Deidara probably hadn't meant to push her over. But he hadn't been thinking, again. Sasori snapped the arm into his model carefully, and then returned his gaze to the scene outside. The seconds were dribbling by, but the girl still hadn't come up. She was drowning.

Deidara seemed to have realized it too, because now he took a step back. Then paused, as if contemplating the situation. Then he turned and walked away. Sasori clacked away at the parts of his Gundam model for a while, and then he looked up again. A brown head was bobbing up and down in the water, and then an entire body surfaced as the girl threw herself over the edge of the pool and dragged herself out. As she sat, coughing and sputtering, Sasori suddenly recognized her. She had been the girl from yesterday, the one who had knocked into Deidara. She was certainly an unfortunate soul. _Click_. He attached the clip to the wing, then looked outside the window again. Strange. One of her arms seemed to be unsually immobile. She was supporting herself with her right arm, brushing away her hair with her right arm, and coughing into her right hand. Her left arm just looked...unusuable. _Click_. She had flipped her hair from her face, and there were some strange shadows on one side of her face. _Click_. But now she had turned her head away, so he couldn't make out what they were. _Click. Click. Click._ In went more parts of the model before he glanced up out the window again. She was gone.

Well. What a show. His first period was certainly more interesting than it could've been. _Click. Click. Click._ He finished putting together the model and set it down to the side.

_BRIIIIIIING!_

And just in time, too. Sasori stuffed the Gundam model in his bag and headed off to second period.

* * *

In the girls' bathroom, Arini was scrubbing away at her face furiously so she could have a clean, fresh face for a new coat of foundation. As she concentrated on removing every trace of the smudged substance, her mind wandered to linger on the question of what had happened in the first place. Why had she fallen over? Someone had pushed her, she knew. But who?

Natsu, maybe. Or someone else like that. She sighed. Too many people disliked her for her to really be able to narrow it down. Rinsing away the last of her makeup, Arini gazed hatefully at her reflection in the mirror.

Ugly.

Shutting her eyes, she reached into her purse for her jar of foundation. Her own reflection was too ugly to even look at. Her eyelids lifted slightly so that she only had slivers of vision, and she unscrewed the cap on the jar. She swept up some of the sticky wet stuff and patted it on her face. Slowly, her eyes opened completely, and she shivered, taking in the entirety of her appearance. She was so ugly. Her face scared even herself.

For a few moments, her fingers were frozen stiff, and she stared with a burning loathing of her own face. Her face really did seem normal enough--until she turned, and there on the left side of her face was an ugly, twisted scar. Bright red, with the places where the veins were were popping out. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

She glopped on more foundation, scooping up the stuff and patting it down. Next, the powder. Reaching into her purse and pulling out a small jar of powder, she opened that, too, and smeared it on her face. She did it very carefully, making sure that she only applied small amounts to her face to make it look completely natural.

And then, there. She was done. She stuffed the makeup back into her purse and washed her hands. Then, grabbing her things, she stepped out of the bathroom. The first thing she did was look for a clock. What time was it, anyways? ...Well. Second period had already started.

Still, she didn't feel like skipping anymore. She would go on and head to class.

* * *

Human Anatomy was a class taught by a woman in her mid-forties. She was tall and skinny, wore glasses, and had wavy dirty blonde hair. She loved floral clothing, and she was wacky. Sort of. Her name was Karasumi Fuu--or Karasumi-sensei, as everyone called her.

It was a class that Sasori breezed through, so it was one of the few classes he usually didn't skip. If he was good at it, why not get the credit for it, right?

"So over the last few days, we've had a little bit of review over our cells. Today though, we're going to be moving on to...the cardiovascular system! That's right, kiddies," Karasumi-sensei said cheerfully, tapping at the board with a pointing stick. "We're going to be talking about all our vessels and blood, down to the very last detail!"

Groans erupted from the class, and rustling of papers could be heard as everyone took out their notebooks. Sasori uninterestedly copied the gesture, but he probably wasn't going to actually take notes.

"Now, who can tell me..."

And that was all about the redhead heard before he tuned her out completely. Really, she was annoying. His eyes dropped down to his notebook. Lines and lines and lines filled the page, and then there were the blank spaces in between. Too blank. He picked up his pencil and began to scribble in the spaces, coloring them in entirely. There. That would kill time.

He had reached the fourth line when the door to the classroom suddenly slid open with a very loud, sweeping motion. He could feels heads snapping up to see the source of the disturbance, but Sasori himself made sure he finished the fourth line before looking up.

"Naruhana-san." Karasumi-sensei addressed the brown-haired girl standing at the doorway with a big smile. "So glad you could join us today!"

The girl only stared at her with big, round eyes, as if unsure about the attention she was getting. Then, hesitantly, her gaze wandered to the sea of faces in the room, searching for something.

"Searching for your seat?" the teacher stood, tapping her stick impatiently.

She shuffled uncomfortably in place, as if unwilling to admit it. Then she nodded awkwardly. Sasori returned to his scribbling.

"You've only shown up for this class once this entire semester, isn't that right? Well now, if only you'd join us more often...your seat's right over there."

Sasori was almost finished with the fifth line when he heard the chair next to him screeching. He glanced up, and...well, hell. So that was whose empty seat it was. He had thought he had been lucky for having an entire table to himself, but apparently that wasn't exactly the case. He studied the girl carefully as she fumblingly settled herself down and rearranged her books in front of her. The first thing he noticed about her was...she was wet. She was soaked very thoroughly from head to toe. And as he glanced down the aisle, he saw that she had left a trail of water making her way to her desk.

But Karasumi-sensei did a very good job trying to ignore this, he realized. So did the other students. When students turned up to class looking as ruffled as she did, it usually meant bad shit. And bad shit, like all the violence and crap, were overlooked at Ame High. The counselor? He was there for show.

Then he looked at her face for the first time, and his eyes widened slightly. _Oh_. Well, she was the girl from first period. ...Not technically first period, but...well, yeah. As the realization dawned on him, a smirk slowly crept its way onto his lips. Yeah, Deidara would get a kick out of this one. Laughing quietly to himself, he returned to scribbling nonsense in his notebook.

* * *

It was the boy from yesterday. The red-haired one, that is.

Arini sat disconcertedly at her desk, tapping her pen against the table. He was from Akatsuki, too. When she had first made her appearance in the classroom, there had been a quiet buzz, and she realized they were talking about how wet she was. Actually, she hadn't even noticed that. All she had been focused on doing in the bathroom was fixing her makeup. But when Karasumi-sensei had pointed out her seat, the buzz had grown even louder, and she had looked up to see why.

She wished she hadn't. Akatsuki members were like celebrities; their very presences were very intimidating, but she had to sit next to one for an entire semester now. She would probably try skipping this class as often as she could. Oh, she still remembered the smirk this redhead had had when he saw her the other day...

And he was smirking again now, too. That slow, lethargic, unbelievably boyish smirk on his face that made her flush with humiliation. Yes, he probably remembered her, too.

The entire period, she made sure her gaze stayed away from him. She concentrated ridiculously hard on Karasumi-sensei and copied down every single one of her notes, though the cardiovascular system really was just a review subject fo her. And her attempts paid off--only once did her eyes betray her, straying over to the unnamed redhead subconsciously, and she caught sight of the oddest thing: instead of notes filling his page, lines and lines of scribbles filled the spaces. She looked away quickly after that.

When the bell rang, she scrambled clumsily for her things and filed out of the classroom with the rest of the class.

* * *

Sasori was one of the ones who stayed behind and took his time getting up. He snapped his notebook shut and threw his hands up in the air, stretching. That girl--that Naruhana girl--she was scared of him, he guessed. Deidara really knew how to scare the shit out of people now. She seemed wary of the entire Akatsuki now.

He finally sauntered out of the classroom himself after a while, and jumped into the huge crowds of people as they swarmed around the atrium, getting ready to head to their next class. But he wouldn't be joining those bustling people hurrying off to third period, he knew. Third period was when the Akatuki had their little gathering on the roof.

He headed up the staircase and emerged into the radiant glow of the outside. Pein, Konan, Itachi, Kisame, and Zetsu had already made their way here before him, and he sat down now to join them.

For a while, it was quiet like this. The louder members of Akatsuki hadn't arrived yet. Sasori took out a redhaired Barbie doll and began taking her apart.

And then Deidara burst in, punching walls and swearing and saying lovely things about Jesus Christ Sasori was absolutely sure priests would go red with anger at. "Aw, fuck," he complained. "It's been a while, so I thought she drowned. That girl from yesterday, you know? The stupid brunette. But it turns out she's not. I...pool...over...thought..." he mumbled more incoherent things softly under his breath.

"...Deidara, what the fuck are you talking about?" Kisame asked finally.

"I saw her in the hallways! The girl from yesterday!"

"...do you want me to knock you in the head?"

"No! Yesterday, some stupidass girl just charged into me like a bull, yeah. I saw her today and went up to push her around a bit, but I knocked her into the pool instead. Then it didn't look like she was coming up, so I walked away. Then I thought maybe she drowned, but now she's back!" the blonde sputtered.

"...That's nice." Kisame returned to whatever the hell he was doing with something in his hand.

"Danna, you get me, right?" Deidara demanded, plopping himself down beside Sasori.

"Sure," Sasori shrugged.

Deidara hung his head and sighed.


	2. Two: Two People Meet

The next morning, Arini's eyes fluttered open to the gentle nudging of a woman hovering over her bed.

"Naruhana-san, it's time to wake up," the woman urged. Blinking, Arini slowly sat up, and winced as the bright daylight spilling through her window greeted her eyes.

"Sorry, Naruhana-san. I'll wake you up first before I open the curtains next time."

"It's fine," Arini mumbled sleepily, pulling her warm quilts close to her. She tried to rub away the sleepiness in her eyes and looked around, dazed. The housekeeper was prancing around the room busily as she reorganized papers and books on the desk and picked up pieces of trash off the floor.

"I ironed your uniform," the housekeeper spoke up helpfully. Arini's gaze sidled over to the open closet, where a crisp uniform hung readily.

'''Kay," Arini muttered, closing her eyes again and rolling over in her bed.

"Do you want me to bring it to you?"

"Please."

The housekeeper scurried over with the uniform in her hands and offered it to Arini.

"Thanks."

Nodding politely, the woman returned to her chores. After a few minutes, she wrapped it up and exited the room. Arini sat up again and glanced briefly at the uniform. Sighing, she changed quickly and headed to the bathroom, her feet making pitter-patter noises across the cold marble floor. She stared at her reflection with distaste, combing her fingers through her hair. The ghastly twisted scar stared back at her. It seemed like a nightmare now, some sick nightmare she could never wake up from. Everyday, she would wake up, and she would have to see it in the mirror, never being able to do anything about it. At least the hospital was merciful. At least the hospital spared her that. In that cramped hospital room, there were no mirrors. There were no people to please, no hair to fix. When she went to the bathroom, she didn't have to look at herself.

But that wasn't how it was at home.

Arini bent down to examine her fingernails, which now seemed an awful lot more interesting than the poor, pitiful girl standing in the mirror.

After a while, she finished her daily routine and emerged into the hallway, a fresh coat of makeup slathered onto her face, her hair neatly brushed. She descended the staircase carefully, weaving her way through the maze of rooms to reach the dining room. A long, rectangular table took up most of the space in the room, and while many seats symmetrically lined the sides, only three places had actually been set, complete with silverware. And two of those places were already occupied. One of the occupants was a woman with ebony black hair tied up into an elegant updo. Her eyes seemed to scrutinize everything around her, she being the prissy, prudish character she always was. A scarlet dress wrapped itself snugly around her body--no doubt tailored especially for herself. She drummed her fingers lightly on the table, making odd clacking noises that drew attention to her perfect French manicure. Beside her, on one end of the table, a pair of large, square hands clutched at pages of newspaper that covered the occupant himself entirely.

"Good morning, Mom, Dad," Arini offered politely as she slid into the seat next to her father, who had his nose buried in some ridiculously long article. Across from her, her mother gave a slight nod to acknowledge her presence.

"Arini." The newspapers dropped to reveal a very stiff-looking man. He looked to be maybe in his thirties, but he was actually already well into his fifties. Even old as he was, he probably didn't look bad at all to other women still. "Good. We need to have a little talk." Oh yes, and he was also the vice-head of a very big company.

Arini silently stared at her fork, waiting for him to continue.

"You've been skipping classes a lot." His words were blunt, to the point. That's how her father always was. "That's got to stop. Do you understand?"

Warningwarningwarning. That was what his tone screamed. Arini never liked her father's warning tone. It meant something bad would happen if she crossed him. So she stared down at her lap and nodded. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'll try harder."

"Good." His tone resumed a happier, more cheerful tone. "I know Ame High School isn't a choice that would be too high on either of our lists of schools you could attend, but circumstances make things difficult, and I'd like you to try."

Circumstances. That was what he called it. He actually meant that Ame High School was the only school around the area willing to bend to the lure of money, under the complete control of Arini's father like a dog to jump whenever he needed them to. Yes, shove a fistful of bills in their faces, and Ame would do whatever you'd like them to do. That's how things were with the newspapers, too. Arini's father had a very tight leash on what the newspapers printed, and he made absolutely sure no names were included in the article that was printed about her accident. No details, either. Arini looking the way she did? The world could never know about that.

"Alright, Dad," Arini mumbled.

Her father noddded his approval briskly before returning to his article. There were a few minutes of awkward silence then, Arini staring down, her father reading, her mother studying her nails. And then servants rushed into the room with silver platters of hot food, setting them down very carefully on the table. Her father decided to break the silence then, papers lowered as he turned to his wife and said, "Dear, the stories in here are getting crazier and crazier by the week. Did you know that..."

Arini stopped listening, gazing intently at her plate as she chewed a mouthful of scrambled eggs vigorously. _Finish eating, get out of here, out of here, out of here_, her brain sang. And as soon as the last of the food on her plate had disappeared down her throat, Arini rose and mumbled very quickly, "May I be excused? School and all...", but her parents weren't listening anyways, so she left.

When she was in the limousine, finally escaped from the uncomfortable breakfast, she breathed a sigh of relief. There. That wasn't so bad. She had known she would eventually be confronted for cutting class so many times, but she didn't know how furious he would be. Her father greatly disliked irresponsible people, but all he had gotten to was his warning tone. Nothing else beyond that, luckily.

As the limo pulled into the school, Arini became faintly aware of unusual clutters of people gathered, whispering and pointing at something she couldn't make out. Hesitantly, she stepped out of the car. The swarms of students gave her side glances like they did everyday, but they seemed more focused on something else today. Arini's ride drove away, and she looked around uncertainly for something--anything--that would give her a clue about the source of disturbnce. She didn't have to look too hard; she spotted it almost immediately as she followed the gazes of the crowd.

Another dark limo had apparently pulled up into the school, but she had been so absorbed with replaying this morning's breakfast that she had hardly noticed. But there it was, sticking out like a sore thumb as it sat parked near the gates. And outside of the limo, a pink-haired girl stood, waiting patiently for something--and she wore the familiar red-and-green uniform of Konoha Prep.

Konoha Preporatory School. Konoha brats, the people from Ame liked to call the students there. Konoha Prep, generally, was a very prestigious school, widely known for its excellent curriculum and the well-groomed people that graduated from the school, who later on moved on to become important figures in the world. No, there weren't some ridiculously difficult entrance exams you had to pass, if that's what you happened to be thinking. Everyone who attended the school just happened to be rich.

Arini was actually supposed to attend Konoha Prep.

But because of Circumstances, her father decided she'd be better off at Ame High instead.

The pink-haired girl checked her watch, then leaned over to whisper something through the open window at the front of the limousine. She straightened herself again, then held up her hand in a wave as the car drove away. The girl was on her own now. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, and marched onwards. The crowds exploded into an excited buzz.

What was this girl here for? Konoha Prep? What would they have to do _here_? To Konoha brats, Ame was a dump.

Heads craned, and many started to silently creep after her, trying to find out what was going on--but it was at that moment that the bell chose to rang. Groans were exchanged, and with shoulders slumped, the crowd began to disperse, heading off to first period.

Arini remained, standing there.

She was frozen stiff with curiosity. Should she head to class, or follow the girl? Instinct immediately overwhelmed her, and before she was even aware of it, she was scrambling after the pink-haired girl. Arini spotted her brightly-colored hair right away, and walking as quietly as possible, they rounded the school together. Twice, the girl turned around to look behind her, a confused look on her face that obviously told Arini that she had been noticed, but she always resumed her roaming not too long afterwards.

But there was that moment when the girl stopped completely, and hesitated. She spun her head around, but Arini had ducked behind a tree. Then the girl suddenly tore through a huddle of forestry nearby. Feeling oddly nosy, Arini did her best to follow. But the girl seemed more cautious now, and she made so many twists and turns that Arini eventually lost her. And when she realized this, she slowed in her steps completely and sighed quietly. Well, that's one mystery never to be solved.

Still, she had to get out of these trees. Small branches and thorny plants kept poking and prodding at her, and she didn't feel at all in the best of shapes. Glancing around uncertainly, she made a smooth loop around the trees and then--

There. She was out. Breathing with relief, Arini shook the leaves from her hair and stepped out into the daylight. Then stepped back.

The neon flash of pink was unmistakable, and her intuition had yet to fail her--because there, in the opening, the girl was very clearly there. The opening happened to be a spot enveloped in the shadow of the school building, so it was relatively cool--and for that reason, Arini didn't feel all that surprised when she spotted another person sprawled out on the ground. What she was startled to find, however, was that she recognized the person as the redhead--that Akatsuki member--who sat next to her in Human Anatomy.

"You found me." He spoke boredly, completely uninterested. He didn't even look the pink-haired in the eye as he stared up--up at what? The roof, the sky...Arini couldn't tell.

"Of course. I know you best," the girl said, smiling weakly. She was sitting in the sort of position Arini had been forced to sit in while practicing tea ceremony, with her hands folded across her lap and everything.

"Not really." The redhead glanced at her. "I know myself best."

"O-oh. That's true." Nervously, the girl reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. It suddenly occurred to Arini that this girl, sitting in the position she was, in front of the Akatsuki member, that she almost seemed to be trying to appeal to him.

"Why are you here?" He was blunt. Too blunt, maybe, because the girl immediately looked pained.

"Sasori...Sasori, Sasori, Sasori..." she closed her eyes, repeating the word over and over again, as if she liked the way the syllables rolled off her tongue, but also stalling for time to gather the words. "I'm...I'm sorry." The last phrase was small and weak. "I'm so sorry...I...I was wrong, now that I think about it. I...really don't have an excuse. But I was so worried about you, but oh...you never seemed to care about me in the first place, and then Sasuke...Sasuke was just there. It was wrong, I know, so wrong...but you just never seemed to _care_." She put emphasis on the last word.

Sasori. Was that his name? Arini blinked. And who was Sasuke? The questions that popped into her head immediately made her flush with shame. She had no right to ask these questions, she was only eavesdropping.

"Sakura." He said the word very slowly and deliberately, turning to look the pink-haired girl in the eye. She glimpsed his face and immediately looked down; something in his face, maybe, made her wrench her face in such a heartbreaking way that Arini couldn't help but feel sorry for her. But no, he wouldn't let her look away--he reached out and took hold of her chin, turning her head to meet his gaze. And perhaps, because his hand was now on her, his touch was against her skin, she couldn't look away. "I never did."

She cheated on him. That much, Arini could gather from the conversation they were having. And maybe, when he said those words, she would've expected him to maybe spit them out, look at her with contempt, some clue that he had been hurt by her and he wasn't willing to take her back. But no--the laziness that lingered in his eyes, the firmness with the touch of casualness in his voice, the way his hand nonchalantly slid back to his side and he tilted his head up to look at the sky, said he was telling the absolute truth. Care? He didn't.

Arini turned. She had no right to be watching this. To watch this scene, such an awful moment for that girl, Sakura, was wrong. She shouldn't have even followed her in the first place, but her own curiosity had gotten the better of her. She was about to leave, when she suddenly heard a painful sound. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw that Sakura was crying. Tears streaming down her face, her nose flushing red fast, her expression looking torn. But still, she nodded, and whispered, "I understand." She began to bend down, then hesitated. Then she went ahead and pressed her lips against the red-haired boy, whose gaze was still locked on the sky as their mouths met. She pulled back after only a moment, and choked out again, "I understand. I..."

But Arini didn't hear the rest because she had already took off running into the trees to make her way back to the front of the school. She didn't trust herself anymore. She always caught the most dreadful times to peek in. Why was that?

She would forget all this. Yes, she would forget. It wasn't right. Clearing her mind, Arini burst into the sunshine and breathed sigh of relief. Finally, she had managed to get away.

_BRIIIIIING!_

Snapping her head to the school building, Arini finally managed to recollect her thoughts, and she realized that she had missed the entire first period. Lovely, and after the talk she had had with her father this morning...

Biting her lip, Arini trodded off to second period.

* * *

"I understand," Sakura had said to him, her breath warm in his ears. _Did she really?_ Sasori wondered, watching the salty drops roll down her face. "I..."

But she wouldn't let herself finish then, trying to swallow down all her tears first. They sat there like that for a few minutes, him unmoving, her gasping out sobs and trying to suppress them. Then, in some split second, she controlled herself completely, choking down all her crying, and she looked him squarely in the eye. He saw that her eyes were rimmed with red, her nose was puffy, and her lips were pulled into a sad smile.

"But I loved you," she whispered. Sasori's gaze lingered on her for only a moment more, then turned to look at the clouds. They were so much more simple and rational than that girl in front of him.

That silly, silly girl.

* * *

As soon as Arini had seated herself in second period, the empty chair next to her tauntingly reminded her who sat there, and heat rushed to color her cheeks. What if, by chance, he had seen her earlier? Facing him would be _mortifying_. She'd seem like some girl who had nothing better to do than poke around in other people's lives to him. Not to mention that he was _Akatsuki_--what would he do to her if he did know?

Her worry faded quickly though. As the minutes dragged on, and as more and more students filed into the classroom, and as the late bell came closer and closer to ringing, the boy called Sasori didn't show. Arini realized then that he might still be busy--he did look very deep in conversation with that girl when she had left them. Relief flooded her veins. Yes, it was very possible he'd skip second period.

Finally, Karasumi-sensei stepped through the door. She glanced at the clock, then briefly surveyed the number of students in the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but the late bell interrupted her--and in mid-ring, the door slid opened again. A redhead quietly sauntered inside.

Arini felt the discomfort settling in her stomach.

The boy--Sasori, the girl had called him--glanced at the teacher, as if daring her to say something. That he was tardy, whether or not he had a pass...when she said nothing, he moved on to his desk. When he plopped down next to her, Arini stiffened. DidheseemeIhopenotbutohmaybeIreallyhopenotdidhe? She watched him warily in the corner of her eye.

He shifted in his seat, he bent forward, he drummed his fingers--he moved plenty, but did nothing to indicate he knew anything about her eavesdropping. In fact, he hardly acknowledged her presence at all; he had taken out a blonde Barbie doll as soon a Karasumi-sensei began the class and started taking her apart.

It was the oddest thing ever, watching such a pretty doll being broken up like that. In fact, it was almost creepy. Arini shuddered and looked away.

* * *

That girl next to him. Hanasomething. She had been eyeing him oddly since he walked through that door. She might've thought she was being discreet, but God, it was obvious. Sasori had felt her irritating gaze on him right away. What did she want?

He didn't like people staring at him, especially the way she was staring--so cautiously, waiting for something. So he reached into his pocket and came up with a Barbie doll. Blonde, blunt fringe--good, she'd do. He began tearing out her arms and legs. (It always disturbed people who watched him do it.)

It worked. The table trembled slightly, and then her gaze was somewhere else. Sasori glanced at her now, not quite sure why she had been eyeing him so closely. But something about her struck him right away, and his gaze dawdled. Her chin was held up so high, so regally, as she stared straight ahead. Her sitting position was unusually stiff and straight, with her hands were folded so properly in front of her...and she had the air of a queen. Her disinterest in her surroundings, seeming completely spaced out but also completely composed, probably did that. She looked like she was used to attention, too...used to being pampered. Her hair was straight, too straight, and any wrinkles on her uniform had been neatly repressed.

She was rich. He popped out the head of the Barbie doll. That much was obvious. She was the kind of rich where everything she did made a person feel uncomfortable. Inferior. _Shouldn't she be at Konoha Prep?_ he wondered idly.

"Alright class, get out the notes we took yesterday on the cardiovascular system. Remember that diagram you copied down of the heart? Too bad for you if you didn't, because you're going to need it!" Karasumi-sensei was saying. "We're going to take a closer look today at the human heart by opening up one!"

Shrieks of "WHAT?!" filled the classroom.

"Just kidding. I mean, I'd do it if it wasn't illegal..." she smiled playfully. "Anyways, we're going to dissect the closest thing _to_ a human heart. Can anyone guess what it is?"

Shrugs and quiet mumbles were exchanged.

Karasumi-sensei reached behind her desk and plopped a big jar of something onto her desk. "Sheep hearts!" she announced.

The classroom exploded into choruses of "eeeeeew" and "Oh, gross!"

The big jar was, sure enough, filled with gray and lumpy things that vaguely resembled hearts. "I've got more of these in the back. Narumi-kun, pass out some paper towels, will you? Good, thanks. Now...let's start handing these out, shall we?" She balanced the jar in both hands. "Come on now, take one and move on. If you're too scared by it, get your partner to do it. If your partner doesn't want to do it...well you're on your own, kiddies."

Sasori immediately glanced up from his busy clacking of body parts just as Karasumi-sensei passed by. "Come on, come on!" she was still saying. He took one and returned to putting the Barbie back together as she moved on to the girl beside him.

"Come on, Naruhana-san, don't be shy," Karasumi-sensei urged. He glanced up, and saw the brunette reluctantly reach into the jar with her right hand and take a heart. She dropped it almost immediately on the paper towel. Clearly, she wasn't fond of internal organs. Shame.

After every student had a sheep heart, worksheets followed. "Alright, tool trays are in the back. If you have your worksheets, go and get one."

"Are you going to get it, or should I?"

He looked up from his work with the doll. The girl--Naruhana or something--was staring at him. He considered answering, but shrugged off the idea, and tried to roll the left leg back in place.

"..." She made some unidentifiable noise, then scooted her chair back. Within the next few seconds, she had gotten up and retrieved a tray, balancing it in her right hand as she made her way back. She plunked it down onto the table, and the place beside him was occupied again. She turned now to look at her notes, studying the diagrams and labels closely. But as she switched her attention from her notebook to the sheep heart lying in front of her, her elbow suddenly knocked her books over her desk, and they came crashing down onto the floor.

"Oh..." she sounded frustrated, and bent down to pick them up again. One by one, with her right hand.

There's a limit to righthandedness. And picking up fallen books with only one hand? There was something wrong with her left arm. Broken, sprained, maybe? He kept that to himself though, just in case. (He just couldn't help being overly observant; it was a habit.)

"Okay, you guys can go ahead and start cutting the thing up whenever you're ready!" the teacher declared.

Loud talking began, and the rustling of pages filled the room. Sasori didn't budge his concentration as he worked on putting the doll back together.

"Ummm..." that Naruhana girl mumbled softly. She was eyeing the heart in front of her uncertainly, then her gaze was on him again. "I...can you..." Gulp. "...help me...?"

Well. She was certainly a lot stupider than even Deidara would've imagined. He looked at her, a small simper on his lips, then looked back down again. She was also...well, funny. Her stupidity would go long ways.

His smug look must've breached her nerves, because then she huffed, fear forgotten. "Look, is something wrong with me?" She pointed a slender finger to her chest as she spoke--a finger that he could break in half at any time. "You keep looking at me."

This time, Sasori didn't look up at all. There was no need to.

"If you have a problem with me, you can just say it," she told him, quiet fury seeping into her expression.

The small warning in her tone made him look up. And now he just stared at her. Was she really _demanding_ something from him?

"Did you..." His stare must've been making her uneasy, because she faltered. "Did you see me earlier? I...didn't mean to...see..."

He stared at her blankly as she bent her head down in redfaced shame. Then he picked up his doll again and popped the other leg joint in.

"I'm sorry, really!" she babbled now. "I was just curious, and she...well, I didn't know...and I..." Her right hand was fiddling with the hem of her skirt nervously now...and her left stayed limp.

_POP_.

A sound suddenly different from the constant clicking of parts back into the doll made the Naruhana girl stare at him again. He was now clasping the left arm of the Barbie that he had slid back into place three minutes ago. He rolled it onto her desk, then turned to heart lying on her desk. "So you just want me to cut this up for you, right?"

Well, why not? She deserved it; she really was such a great laugh.

* * *

Arini just stared, the cold fear trickling into her body. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out, so she shut it again. Her gaze locked on the offending doll part, she sat, frozen in place.

_How did he know?_

She glanced down at her left arm. It wasn't that noticeable, was it? It shouldn't have been. The severed nerves in her arm was supposed to be an internal problem, not physical. The doctor said so. The doctor _promised_. So then, how did he--

_A deafening sound of impact. An earsplitting shriek filling the air--who was it coming from? Her...? Impossible. Then shadows tip-toeing to her side, snaking their arms around her neck, cradling her to sleep, and she finally succumbing..._

It wasn't until the images stopped flashing in front of her eyes that she realized she was squeaking. Shivering, Arini blinked.

And found herself in her Human Anatomy class, the students around her poking and prodding at sheep hearts.

She inhaled, feeling her body relax. She was in class. In school. Those images--they weren't now. They were long gone. Would never happen again. Gonegonegone.

As her hands slid back to her side, she realized she had been clutching at her head again. She looked down, the warmth surging to her fingertips. Goodness, she must've looked _so_ pathetic…it was extremely lucky no one saw that--

Oh, _no_.

Suddenly remembering her lab partner, she swiveled her head to face him.

He had been staring at her, his sleepy gaze focused on her. Even when her gaze met his, he stared at her. Then, very calmly, very carefully, he returned his stare to the sheep heart in front of him. And picking up a pair of scissors from the tray, he made a few smooth incisions on the organ before pushing it back to her.

"Question number one," he told her evenly.

She kept staring at him dumbly. But he had returned now to the Barbie doll, smoothing his fingers over her body as if to make sure he had put her together properly. So Arini awkwardly turned to the sheep heart, and realized that for question number one, she had to draw out something.

Hurriedly, she scribbled down a sketch and pushed the heart back to him. She had been ready to say something to get his attention, tell him she was done--but he had already looked up and taken the pair of scissors again.

And so it was like that for the next half hour. Passing the heart back and forth between them, him cutting it up, her scribbling down the answers. And when she finally finished, she set down her pencil, and blinked--only blinked, honest to God--and then the packet was gone.

She turned to Sasori, and sure enough--he had it, opening his own packet to copy down her answers.

She opened her mouth to say something--but then clamped it shut. He had helped her, right? It shouldn't matter. So she didn't say anything at all, instead watching him as he scribbled down answer after answer.

He wrote fast. He turned the pages quickly, more quickly than it probably should've taken. And then he was done, so he set it back down in front of her, then proceeded to take the pair of scissors to cut up his own sheep heart.

"Um...thanks," she mumbled. "I didn't think you'd actually…help me. I mean…you didn't look like you wanted to. So…thanks."

He didn't say anything at all to that, just kept tearing through the sheep heart. Then he glanced up at her, still working. "Can you laugh?"

She blinked rapidly. What? "What?"

"Never mind." His gaze was back on the heart.

Feeling like she had just failed a test, Arini stared down at her lap.

* * *

She didn't look like she could laugh.

Sasori didn't think so, anyways.

Her lips didn't even look they could smile. No, she always looked too sad for it.

He finished cutting up the heart and set it to the side. It was probably pointless to cut it up at all, but it'd look suspicious if he just had a whole, untouched sheep heart, right?

"Alright, class. When you're done, you can throw away your hearts and bring your packets up to me."

The Naruhana girl beside him rose, packet in hand, so he thrusted his own to her as well. She stared at him, confused for a moment, then hesitated before taking it.

"Um…can you throw my heart away for me?"

Her question hung in the air, and so finally, the left corner of his mouth quirked up. "Fine."

"Thank you." She scurried away.

Slowly, he wrapped the hearts up in the paper towels, then turned to dump them in the trash can. While he was doing that, the bell rang.

Students quickly wrapped up their cleaning and poured out of the classroom. Sasori took his time still, stalking over to the sink to wash his hands. When he came back to his desk, the Naruhana girl was already gone.

As he was collecting his belongings, he realized she had taken the Barbie arm with her.

Hm. Funny girl.

He walked out of the classroom.

* * *

_I wish I could have another left arm._

As she hurried out into the hallways, Arini remembered the wish she had had during the first few months of hospitalization. She stared at the small arm in her hand. She hadn't meant to take it with her. She still didn't even know why she did. It wasn't like he even really gave it to her. Besides…it was sort of like an insult, right? It seemed like he knew there was something wrong with her left arm, and…

But he didn't _seem_ deriding when he set it onto her desk. He just didn't.

And now…well when she had made that wish, she didn't exactly mean it that way. Not a Barbie arm. A real, actual arm. Made of flesh and blood, not plastic.

But somehow…somehow, this worked, too.

She stuffed it into her pocket.

* * *

"What are you _doing_?" Deidara stared critically at Sasori.

They were on the rooftop. Third period, Akatsuki meeting.

Sasori had taken the blonde Barbie out and was busily coloring in her hair with a brown Sharpie, so he didn't answer at first. But then, after he finished a streak, he did. "Making a clown."

"_Huh_?"

"…"

He kept coloring the doll's hair.

"Where's her arm, man? That's freaky."

"...Never mind."

Deidara wouldn't understand. He never did.


	3. Three: She Finds Danger

"Arini, dear. Good, you're here. Close the door behind you, will you?"

Arini shut the door behind her and fixed her gaze on her mother questioningly. As soon as she had woken up that Saturday morning, the housekeeper had herded her across the house, prattling about her mother wanting to see her. And so here she was, still wearing her frilly nightgown and her hair as unkempt as anything.

"You wanted to see me, Mother?" She rubbed her elbows. Her parents' bedroom was huge. She didn't like coming in here. Never did. It was too wide, too spacious; she couldn't help feeling self-conscious whenever she was here.

Her mother shut her book quietly and set it down. "We've found another one."

Arini stopped, not quite comprehending the bit of information. Found another what? And then it sank in, and her hand flew to cup around the ghastly scar on her face. "Really?" She didn't like the way her voice came out in a squeak.

"Sit, sit." Donned in a pink bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, her mother looked slightly less intimidating than she usually did. And so Arini sat in the place her mother was patting at on the couch. "Your great-aunt lives in Paris," she said, putting a French accent on the last word. "Surely you know that?"

"Great-aunt Sunako, yes."

"Yes, well. She found an excellent surgeon there--absolutely superb. Many years of experience, and an almost flawless record of successful operations. Your father and I would like you to spend a few weeks in Paris with Sunako to give Dr. Frederic a chance." Her mother beamed, but her gaze stayed away from Arini' scar the entire time.

Of course. Her mother would be one of the ones who'd want to get rid of the blemish on her face the most. Her own daughter, with such a frightening mark that could send a child's knees quaking? Never.

But she didn't blame her mother. She, Arini herself, wanted to the scar to go away just as much. It was so ugly, and she hated it so much. A prickle of uncomfortable humiliation helpfully reminded her of those days when she first waltzed around that hospital, unaware of just how ugly her scar was, and taking those stares of disgust and revulsion obliviously. But…

But she had already gone through seven other surgeries before, and they had all done nothing for her. She looked the same. Worst, if nothing else. Arini was reluctant to try another surgeon--and goodness, in _Paris_? She had just gotten back, and she…well, she wanted to settle down a bit first.

"I..." Arini looked down. "I...could we wait until spring? I...want to..."

Her mother clucked her tongue now, annoyed. "Arini, _dear_--" she said the latter word through clenched teeth--"the fact that we've found him at all is a pure miracle. I would like--…I know _you_ would want to get rid of that…that thing as soon as possible, so please. Don't be difficult. There'll be plenty of time to rendezvous with your friends later."

_But I don't have any friends anymore_. Arini stared hard at the carpet, and didn't say anything at all. A long pause stretched, and finally, her mother sighed, absolutely aggravated.

"Fine!" she barked, snatching her book back up again. "Be ungrateful. Get out of here."

Arini scrambled outside, her cheeks flaming. She hadn't meant to make her mother angry…

Just a little longer, she promised herself. She needed just a little more time. And then she'd go.

She had been walking, making her way back to her own room, but now she stopped and glanced at the windows to the side. Through the heavy velvet curtains, bright sunshine streamed through the cracks and ushered invitingly to Arini. Blinking rapidly, she found her footsteps taking her down the stairs and out the door.

She walked and walked after that, and it wasn't until her feet started aching to such an extent that she couldn't ignore it very much longer, and she noticed she had been walking barefoot the entire time. She looked up now, and found that walking as long as she did had taken her to the shopping centers of the city. People were busily bustling in and out, and the honking of cars and screeching of tires filled the air.

There was a park nearby too, so she found a bench and curled herself up into a ball there to look at the sky. It was very blue today, but thick gray clouds loomed in the sky ominously. It was windy, too. Waves of wind were rippling the air, sending her hair flying in all directions, so in the end, she gathered her hair together and slung it over her shoulder. And she sat like that for a while, just staring at the sky.

"Mommy!"

The sound of a little boy's voice so near her pierced the rhythmic sound of the distant chattering and honking cars, and Arini tore her gaze away from the sky. A small boy and his mother were walking by, hand-in-hand, but the boy was staring intently at her with a curious expression on his face.

"Mommy, what's up with that lady's face? It's all red and weird-looking!"

"Kyota!" His mother hissed. She had stopped walking when her son was talking, but now she picked up pace again. "Don't say that, I think it's a birthmark." She glanced at Arini too, then walked even faster. "Don't look at her, dear. It's not normal," she muttered.

But Arini heard her. She heard every word of their conversation. And now her heart dropped like stone.

She had forgotten. How could she be so stupid?

Concealer, foundation, powder...she'd forgotten to put them on before she left.

Stupidstupidstupid…

_Weird-looking_.

She was weird-looking. Weird-looking? It looked that bad? It was really that bad…?

She could feel her body trembling all over, and she rose from the bench now and began walking away quickly. It was that bad, to that extent…should she go to Paris right away after all? She didn't want to look like this. If she let herself stay this way too long, would that affect the results of the surgery? Would it be harder to get rid of?

She...she didn't want to be weird-looking forever. Nonono, absolutely not. She couldn't. She didn't want to be weird-looking to kids forever. She didn't want kids to be scared of her forever…because she wanted a child of her own one day, and she wanted that child to look at her and think of her as the prettiest mother in the world…

But.

But that was impossible with her current face, wasn't it?

Her own baby would be scared of her if she looked like that while she held him in her arms.

And...

Her footsteps had taken her walking through the shops in the city, and now she stopped in front of a shop that sold mirrors for Feng Shui. Through the window display, she stared in sheer horror at her own reflection in one of the round mirrors.

_And she didn't want that_.

But her face...red and angry, grisly-looking, stretching to cover the entire left side of her face. Veins bulging, popping out in an unsightly way.

If she ever had a child, how could he ever think of her as beautiful?

Lumps rose to swell in her throat, and before she even realized it, her breathing was picking up at a horrid pace. Her heart was pumping wildly, and then the tears were coming, streaming down her face rapidly.

She took off running now, just running and running and running.

She wanted to escape herself. She didn't want to _be_. Why did she have to look like this?

Her chest throbbed painfully, and the tears felt like they would never stop.

And then she finally stopped running, clinging onto the door of an empty telephone booth for support. She wasn't used to running so much, walking so much like she did today. Her chest hurt, and her legs were so sore…

She was vaguely aware of the people passing by her now, and giving her odd looks. Were they…were they staring at her face? Paranoia rising to grip her again, she slid into the telephone booth and shut the door firmly behind her. Then she sank to the ground on her knees, feeling like she would burst from her despair, because everything she was crying right now wasn't enough.

She wanted...she _needed_ to talk to someone.

But who?

She stared at the telephone in front of her for a little longer, sniffling and sobbing, then glanced at the ground. There was scattered change everywhere, coins people had probably dropped in their hurry to make their calls. She snatched up a few coins and jammed them into the slot. Then she smacked random numbers in until she heard it ringing. She didn't know what she was doing, but she just needed someone to _listen_…

"Hello?" a woman's voice came up on the other end.

Arini tried to say something that at least sounded like it made sense, but she couldn't, because she was still crying so hard…

"_Hello_?" the woman asked again, seemingly irritated.

And when Arini said nothing still, the line went dead.

Wiping away her tears, she jammed more coins into the slot. Then she punched in an absolutely random number, the first one that came to her mind. It started ringing again, and this time, a male answered.

"Hello?"

Trying to swallow the lumps in her throat, Arini tried to say something that sounded at least _rational_, but all she came out with was a choked-up sob that tore through her chest.

"Who is this?" His voice was smooth. Smooth like velvet, and it was...soothing.

And those tones struck a chord inside her, because she suddenly broke out crying again and couldn't stop. And she tried. Oh, she tried, because she knew she sounded like a maniac. But she couldn't. "I...I..." she managed to say in between sobs, but then she stopped trying altogether, and just kept crying.

And crying and crying and crying.

But the funny thing was, that person on the other line didn't hang up. She heard him, breathing softly on the other line, and it didn't go dead like the other time, like it had with the woman--like she had thought it would.

And when she finally stopped crying as hard, she heard this: "Feel better now?"

"I..." Arini felt her composure slowly returning, and she was finally able to manage out words that weren't thickly coated with bawling. "Th-...thank you..."

"Hm." Then there was a clicking sound, and the line went dead.

She held the receiver still, clutching at it tightly for another while. Then she put it back in place, rising to her feet again. She...she didn't know who that person was, but…she was so _grateful_ to him.

If…

If there had been no one to listen...no one she could find…

She didn't want to think about what she would've done.

* * *

"Who was that, danna?" Deidara asked, eyes wide. "You know you usually never carry on a conversation for longer than three minutes, and you stayed on for eight!"

Sasori slid the cell phone back into his pocket, shrugging. "It was a wrong number."

"Is that so, un? You know, for a moment, I thought you were talking to Sakura or something..." the blonde chortled.

"So did I..." Sasori muttered. "...at first."

"What was that, danna?"

"Never mind."

"Okay, okay. So the saleslady and me were talking while you were on the phone." Deidara jabbed at the glass display. "So do you think those earrings, or that necklace would make a better present for Ino's birthday tomorrow?"

"...Deidara, you can't be serious."

"Why not?"

"...That necklace is the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my goddamn life."

* * *

Arini hated parties.

Not the kind where there was music tearing down the walls of the rooms with large crowds of teenagers swaying their hips to the noise, that is. No, she was never invited to those sorts of parties.

The kind of parties she attended every weekend were formal parties. Dinner parties that Very Important People held to celebrate such-and-such, and engagement parties that big heads held for their daughters and sons getting married to so-and-so to create a merger between two companies. Grand parties, where you had to wear tight-fitting dresses that were made especially for you during one afternoon where someone would have to come over and take all your measurements and ask you what you wanted your dress to look like and what color.

Arini hated them, but tonight she was attending one of them. Tonight, on this very fine Sunday, a Mr. Kamui Dawaichi was announcing his engagement to a Ms. Aoi Naoyaka.

But Arini didn't really care, so after lounging around for a good bit in her blush-pink gown, she ran away.

She'd come back. It's not like her absence would really be noticed, anyways. Her mother was always much too busy gossiping with the other ladies, and her father would prattle on and on about his company at parties like these.

She twisted and turned through the dark streets of the city with her hands tightly clutched around her skirts, jumping every so often when a car would drive past.

_The lights are so bright_, she thought idly, tilting her head up to look at the dancing lights of the street lamps.

It was nice, walking on a night like this. The summer air was _so _nice and warm. Wouldn't it be wonderful to sleep outside? She did a little twirl, letting her skirts twist playfully around her waist. Too bad she was trapped inside the house most of the times. The outside was so much more welcoming than the inside, after all.

Biting down on her lower lip, Arini glanced around at her surroundings and paused in her steps, suddenly realizing that her setting no longer looked quite familiar. _Oh...I should probably be getting back_.

Her gaze darting back and forth, she spun on her heel and started walking in the opposite direction, letting the street lamps guide her on her way back. But as she walked and approached a four-way, it occurred to her that she'd also taken quite a few lefts and rights...she'd taken a left last, right?

She took a few steps to the left, throwing an uncertain look back over her shoulder as she walked. But she strode onwards, quite aware that she was now leaving the protection of her street lamps. After a while, she noticed a thin narrow pathway down to her right, and remembered that she had crossed something like that in her hurry to escape the party. Hope rekindled, she hastily scurried for the pathway, hoping that whatever direction she was taking was right.

"Hey, gurlie."

A sudden voice from her left sent a squeak tumbling from her lips, and she stumbled to the ground clumsily.

"Whoa, whoa. Ye okay, gurlie?" A rumbling laugh bounded towards her, and Arini sat up, rubbing her head.

"Lemme help ye out there." A man loomed over her, extending his hand to her. She stared at his huge hand uncertainly, but he didn't give her a chance to respond. He reached over and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to her feet abruptly. The sudden tug sent her limbs crying out in protest, but she didn't dare complain out loud. (His hands were strangely moist and leathery...)

"Th-thanks," Arini mumbled, snatching her hand back immediately and turning to look up at the man. He didn't actually look very old, if she looked closely enough. His face looked rather young still, maybe fresh out of high school, but his height and muscles easily added ages to his appearance. Not to mention his head was very crudely shaved, and dense facial hair covered various patches of his chin.

"Thanks, huh? Gurlie gurlie gurlie, ye crack meh up..." he chuckled. "...Huh. Well, whadda we have here?" His gaze was suddenly roaming her body, and Arini jumped back, not quite sure whether he was eyeing the rosy-colored dress--or the body that the one-shoulder strap very slyly exposed.

"Well, ye don't have such a bad figure there...how about showing me the rest of what's under that snooty 'lil dress?" he smiled, showing rows of awfully yellow teeth.

_Both_, Arini thought to herself, and turned. Her feet moved swiftly, but the man caught her arm easily and pulled her back. "Whoaaa. Hold up right there. Ye can't go yet, the night's young."

Horrified, Arini tried to pull away, but his grip was amazingly, unbelievably, terrifyingly _tight_.

His damp rubbery hand moved to push the strap away from her shoulder, and a shriek began to escape lips--only, the other hand flew to cover her mouth, and the taste of his hand was so awful that she clamped her mouth shut again immediately.

"That's right, gurlie. Stay still and it won't be too bad--I promise." He smiled crookedly, his hand traveling lower down her body still.

Her mind completely gripped by fear, Arini could barely begin to comprehend what was happening. It couldn't happen. No, she couldn't. Her virginity was the only pure part of her left. If she lost that--if she lost that as well--...

How could she ever face the world again? Nonono, it couldn't happen, it just _couldn't,_ dear God...Tears stung her eyes, and she closed them so she wouldn't have to watch her vision being blurred. No, it wasn't real. This wasn't real. It was a nightmare. She could wake herself up from it, if she tried hard enough...

Wake up.

Wake up.

_Wake up._

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Frighteningly loud sounds suddenly pierced the air, and Arini's eyes fluttered open.

"Didn't think you'd actually get away from me, did you, Daisuke?" a new voice said calmly. "Ah...I see you've found yourself a toy, too. Cocky. You should've tried to hide."

"Aghhhh..." The eyes of the man in front of her were wide, his pupils small and beady. "B-Bastard..." And that was the only thing he managed to say before blood spurted from his lips and splattered onto the ground--and then he fell on top of her.

Arini yelped, trying to jump back, but the weight of his body was too much for her. She was tackled to the ground as well, and that was how she noticed the large red holes in the back of the man that had just tried to rape her.

_He'd been shot_. She didn't quite understand it at first, blinking rapidly as the fact slowly sank in. And then her eyes were large and round like saucers, and she looked up.

A boy, probably no older than her, hovered over her, staring not at her, but at the body of the man slumped over in her lamp with a smirk spread over his lips. And as he turned slightly, letting the moonbeams wash over him, she noticed his fiery red hair.

_Ohmigod_.

It was that boy from her Human Anatomy class. That Akatsuki member. Sasori. Sasori..._Akasuna_. His last name hit her with a jolt as her eyes lingered on the unmoving body, big red gaping holes on his backside. Then her gaze snapped up to stare, her body quivering viciously, at the redhead.

Tonight, he was dressed coarsely in a black-and-red leather jacket--and dressed in only that, torso-wise anyways, because he hadn't bothered zipping it up, exposing his bare chest underneath. Tightly-fitting black pants wrapped snugly around his legs, and a silver cross hung on a chain against his chest. And as her eyes followed the sleeves of his jacket and to his hands, which were gloved with black leather, a gleaming silver pistol caught her eye.

"You...you _shot_ him," she gasped, struggling to rise to her feet as she pushed the corpse off of her.

The redhead had been seemingly busy reloading his weapon, but now he turned to glance at her. "Who are you to complain?"

Looking down at herself, Arini suddenly realized how ridiculous she looked. Her dress was stained crimson with blood, and the strap of her one-shoulder gown had slipped down her shoulder to reveal part of her bra. Flushing a bright pink, she hurriedly pushed the strap back in place. "B-But...you...you..._killed_...!"

There was a clicking sound, and with one lucid motion, Arini suddenly found herself with a gun to her head.

"Say anything. _Anything_ about this, and you die with him."

His eyes were _dangerous_--with absolutely no trace of hesitation in his threat. And...and he just looked so casual about it...that it suddenly occurred to Arini that this boy, Sasori Akasuna, didn't recognize who she was, with her hair twisted back into an updo and plenty of ridiculous flower hairpins keeping it in place, and then all the makeup and then her _dress_...

And she decided not to say anything to this Akatsuki member, either. Because she knew now that she would have nothing more to do with this person than she had to.

"I-...I won't..." she murmured very softly, averting her gaze.

"Good." More clicking, then he retracted his arm. "Come on."

Her eyes widened. "W-...wait, what?"

"...I'm sorry." He turned his critical gaze onto her. "I wasn't aware you expected to _stay_ with him. Of course, I'll just leave you..."

"W-wait! I mean, no, no I don't want to stay with him!" Her heart was beating quickly again at the very thought of being left behind with the corpse of that rotten man. "P-please don't leave me here..."

"That's what I thought. Come on." He was making his way out of the alleyway now, pushing the gun into his jacket pocket.

"W-where are you taking me?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"Umm...Dawaichi Manor."

The redhead stopped walking and turned. "You can't be _serious_."

"Wh-...what?"

"You're from there?"

"I...I..." Arini looked down, not quite sure how to answer that as she fidgeted with her fingers. She felt his gaze on her now, trailing down slowly as if studying her dress. Then very softly, he sighed.

"Of course..." Then he continued walking and said nothing more. So she followed him, feeling ever-so-uncomfortable.

At the opening of the alleyway, a sleek black motorcycle had been parked, and that was what the Akatsuki member now swung his leg over. "Hop on."

"I..." How could she say she'd never ridden on a motorcycle before and was deathly afraid of the experience, without angering him and making herself look completely ridiculous? ...Well, there. She couldn't. So very awkwardly, she imitated his gesture and slid one leg over the seat.

"Hold on tight."

"Wha...? _Oh_....ahhhhhhh!" she shrieked as the motorcycle suddenly vroomed to life, and they sped off.

The wind battered her face violently at the speed they were going, and she found stray locks of her hair unable to withstand the wind and stay in a perfect updo whipping at her face all the while. She also realized early on that in order to prevent herself from falling off, she had to hold on tightly--maybe a little too tightly for comfort--to the waist of Sasori Akasuna. It was quite possibly the most discomfiting experience ever...if only she had the time to sulk in it.

They were going fast, much faster than any speed limit should've let them go, but who was an Akatsuki member to abide by laws and regulations anyways? It was understandable...but for her...for her...it was _unbearable_. She felt like her heart was about to fly out of her chest any minute now, and she held on fast to the rabid fear that any moment now, they would hit something. Maybe a street lamp. And then....

There would be the lights, the darkness, the pain, and everything else again afterwards.

"C-can you go slower?!" she tried to shout over the loud roaring of the wind.

He didn't seem to hear her, because the speed remained the same. Faster, if anything else.

"I...I..." A pole. What if they hit a pole? "Can you please go slower?!"

And maybe it was just her imagination, but the wind seemed to be rushing to hit her face even more quickly now. Tears sprang to her eyes. A pedestrian. What if they hit a pedestrian? God, oh my god...and then, all over again...it would repeat, but for someone else too...and...and...

"SLOW DOWN, SASORI AKASUNA!" Arini screamed, feeling the hot tears escape her eyes, but they never got the chance to roll down her face. Instead, they flew off into the night; that's how fast the motorcycle was going.

But after she spewed out those words, the motorcycle _did_ slow down. And when Arini realized that, she couldn't help but cry even more, because she was ridiculously grateful he'd listened.

The motorcycle stopped a few feet away from the front gates of Dawaichi Manor, and that was where he let her off. Arini climbed off, relieved to be back in contact with the dear sweet ground, and bowed. "Thankyoufortheride." And then she tried to rush away.

But it didn't work. "Wait."

And so she stopped and turned around, a fearful expression crossing her face. What did this frightening person want with her now?

"You know me," the redhead said, leaning his body over his bike. "How?"

"What?" Arini blinked. "I...I don't know you." She laughed nervously. (Did that seem too fake?) "What are you talking about?"

"You knew my name, so don't play dumb," Sasori sighed. "Who are you?"

When did she tell him she knew his name? What was he talking about....? _Oh_. Ohmygoodness. Arini blushed furiously, realizing her mistake. "I...I..."

"...Oh, wait. No, you don't need to answer that..." And then he suddenly got up from his bike and walked over to her, pulling something out of her hair--sending her brown locks cascading down her shoulders. (How did he do that? She always spent _forever_ trying to let down her hair at night...) "You're Arini Naruhana, aren't you?" And now Sasori smiled again. No, not smiled....it was more of a _smirk_. That incredibly boyish smirk that sent the tint that mantled Arini's cheeks to deepen a shade.

"Erm..."

"...Thought you looked familiar." He twirled the flower hairpin in his fingers.

An uncomfortable feeling was creeping into Arini's chest, suggesting to her that the longer she stood in front of this person, this coldblooded murderer, the more gradually her life was slipping into jeopardy. Oh yes, she still remembered very clearly, those shrill gunshots ringing in her ears, how he had shot that man down. And no matter how grateful she was to him for it, even though she didn't really care that much for that man's life anyways because her virginity was safe now and that was all that really mattered to her, it never stopped occurring to her that her own life was in danger now, that she might be next, as long as she was within shooting radius of this Very Dangerous Person. After all, he didn't seem all that reluctant to pull the trigger on her while the deathly cold metal was pressed against her head.

..._Oh my goodness gracious_. She had yelled at him earlier, hadn't she? The dread swelling in her heart, she threw her head forward in an apologetic bow. "Ummm...I'm sorry for yelling at you!" she blurted out. And with that being said, she hurried inside the gates, hoping to God he'd just leave it at that.

* * *

Daisuke Aizawa. He was trash, and everyone who'd ever heard his name knew that. He went around doing dirty jobs for gangs, never really sticking with one, and that's what pissed people off. Everyone had him on their black list, so he was bound to go down one day.

It just so happened Leader had decided Sasori would have fun with this job. After all, Akatsuki's secrets being spilled to their rival gang in Sunagakure wasn't something to be taken lightly.

But he'd never expected to bump into the little rich girl from his Human Anatomy class while actually finishing him off. Odd, wasn't it, the way things turned out?

But she really was such a funny girl. He wondered when she'd realize she'd forgotten the flower hairpin he was still playing with in his fingers.

Oh, but...the petals looked like diamonds. ...Maybe he should keep it. He slipped it into his pocket and drove off.

* * *

**A/N: **Whee! That's the third chapter up. Hehe, I'm ridiculously proud of myself that I'm actually getting somewhere with this series. So, to my few dear readers, what do you think so far? :3 Reviews, por favor?


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